“Cover To Cover Remixed” Celebrates 40 Years and Brings PEZBAND Back to the Forefront

“I thought of that name for the group because first, I always
liked the candy and thought it was very special stuff; kind of like medicine
that tasted good,” says lead vocalist and guitarist MimiBetinisof
the ’70’s “Power Pop” group PEZBAND. “What
really kind of fascinated me was the letter combination; P E Z. I thought it
was kind of unusual and out of high school we had a little jam band and called
it PEZ and then I thought; why don’t we make it something that
people will only associate with us instead of the candy? So I decided to call
it PEZBANDso that the name just meant the group instead of the
candy.”

Based out of the Chicago, IL area, PEZBAND was both innovative and
ahead of their time as they caught the eye and ears of one Marty Scott President
of JEM Records who signed them in 1977 to PVC, a
label of The Passport Group and a division of JEM.

With a sound that was termed, “Melodic” and “New
Wave” with influences from the British Invasion years; PEZBAND
was perhaps one of, if not the first band to be labeled “Power
Pop” and promoted as such. However, timing is everything and
during the height of their talents they struggled to find their niche as they
were sandwiched between two eras of pop culture.

“We were up against the disco movement and later on against
punk,” said Betinis as hereflected
on the band’s past. “Punk stuff like the Sex Pistols came
in; we loved them and thought they were great but our sound was a little more;
I don’t want to say refined but a little more commercial sounding. Even though
we didn’t really sell many records we had a marketable look and
sound.”

Faced with the task of trying to fit in, the record company and
the members themselves began to lose faith. So with no crystal ball and a sound
that unknowingly would eventually become more mainstream only a handful
of years later; they decided to disband.

“In 1980 we called it quits, we had lost the Passport
Record contract and management that we had decided to bow out as well;
so we were on our own and kind of floated for a while. We tried to regroup as a
trio and we did some more recordings in Los Angeles and that too didn’t really
do too much; we couldn’t get it sold. So that brought us to about 1982 and at
that point I kind of called it, I was just fed up with the music business. I
had been doing it since 1971 and hadn’t gotten where I wanted to go so I went
back to school and got my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and I
started teaching Art for Chicago Public Schools later in the
80’s and I did that for about 22 years. I always had my hand in music but not
like I had in the 70’s where it was an everyday thing; of course you can’t do
both things at once, you can’t play music and teach inner city kids Art, that
would be a little too much.”

Then as with all else in life, nothing lasts forever and Betinis
was once again faced with another change in his game plan.

“My teaching career was cut short because
the Chicago Public School System is one system that just ousts you out of a
job; so I lost my job a couple of years ago. My principle said to me, “You
know, you’ve been teaching for 22 years, take your pension and relax.” So
I took my pension way to early but I had to because they won’t hire specialty
teachers for Art; you need to have multiple certifications and I only have
one.

Now with new found time on his hands and his love of music still
intact, he revisited the band’s past and discovered that there were still some
embers burning underneath the ashes. With the 40th anniversary of their PVC
release of “Cover To Cover” approaching, Mimi
enlisted friend and producer John Pavletic who eagerly took on
the task of revisiting the album and updating its sound.

“You can’t shake it, once it’s in your blood it’s
there,” said a laughing Mimi as
he referred to being amusician and performer. “With
us now, with the re-issue of the record with the remix and remastered version;
I think it sounds much stronger than it did in 1979. I think in 1979 had we
sounded like we do today, I think our future might have been much different
because the sound today is quite powerful. The production was done by a very
close friend of mine, a fellow by the name of JohnPavletic who I’ve
worked with for years and years. He works on all of my solo material and this
is the third PEZBAND record that he’s done. I took the two inch 24 track master
tape down to his place, I had it digitized and he started working on mixing and
remastering and it took him the better part of a year to do. When you compare
the two, how it sounded in ’79 a little rattling and rough sounding and how it
sounds today it’s very polished and contemporary; the difference is astounding.”

With the album now having the equivalent of a face lift; Betinis
turned to his past once again and old friend Marty Scott.

“Marty and I had talked for the last couple of years and
we both said that we should do something together because he’s got all of this
catalog stuff and I had all of the master tapes so I said; why don’t we do
something together? So I said that John had mixed a couple of songs and asked
if he wanted to hear them and I sent them to him and Marty said, “We have
to do something; let’s do a release” and that was back in December. So we
kind of mutually agreed that we had to do something and I’m very glad that we
have because Marty was the guy who signed us and had the faith in us in 1977
and again he’s proven himself to be quite good because the record has received
a great deal of radio play and accolades; it’s really good, he’s doing a great
job.”

PEZBAND originally consisted of Betinis, guitarist Tommy
Gawenda, Mick Rain on drums and vocals and Mike
Gorman on bass and vocals. Although many years have passed these four
have stayed in touch and are still up for the challenge of the road; that’s if
the re-release continues to gain traction and opens up new opportunities.

“Now the group is not active right now but
that doesn’t mean that it won’t be active at some point especially if the
record does better than we hope it will and if it does there’s a good chance
that we’ll get the militia together and come to your town,” he explained with a laugh. “Tommy who is our other guitar player is unable to
perform loud music due to a hearing condition but the drummer and the bass
player, Mike and Mick are up for doing shows and I have another friend of mine
who is a guitarist that will fit right in; if need be we will go out and do
it.”

Danny Coleman is a veteran musician and writer from central New Jersey. He hosts a weekly radio program entitled “Rock On Radio” airing Sunday evenings at 7 p.m. EST on multiple internet radio outlets where he features indie/original bands and solo artists.

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